Sarah Kaufman crossed off the first person on her hit list by defeating Leslie Smith last Wednesday night (April 16, 2014) at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): "Nations" Finale in Quebec City, Canada (recap), but her second goal is going to have to wait.
That's because Cat Zingano, Kaufman's next desired foe, is still recuperating from a knee injury which has kept her out of action for close to a year. One that also cost her a title shot against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey.
Speaking during the TUF: "Nations" Finale post-fight press conference (video), UFC President Dana White stated that Zingano has a long way to go before she can step back into the cage, which means Kaufman will likely have to fight someone else.
His words:
"Cat's out for a while. Everybody knows what happened to her knee, and then the other tragedy that happened in her life. She's got a lot of stuff to deal with mentally, physically, emotionally, before she can start training to come back and fight again."
Zingano, who is undefeated (8-0, 1-0 UFC) in her mixed martial arts (MMA) career, suffered another personal setback a few months ago when her husband, Mauricio Zingano, was found dead of an apparent suicide. Despite her recent hiccups, "Alpha" declared she would be ready to return to the cage this summer.
Whether or not that happens, remains to be seen.
Kaufman, meanwhile, will have to find another female contender to tangle with, and now that Miesha Tate has defeated Liz Carmouche at last night's (April 19, 2014) UFC on FOX 11 event (results), perhaps that long-awaited rematch is in order.
Unless you have a better idea?